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Seven multichannel retail success stories

With Econsultancy's JUMP event just a couple of weeks away, I've rounded up some examples of UK retailers who have used a joined up approach to drive their multichannel revenues.

While some, like Halfords, John Lewis and Argos, have been reporting impressive multichannel sales for some time now, others like Debenhams and House of Fraser are just starting to see the benefits of this approach...

The retailer is targeting online sales of £200m per annum within three years, and is currently looking at doing more to increase multichannel sales with the introduction of a 'Buy and Collect' service, and a trial of an order in store service.

Debenhams

Thanks in part to an increased focus on multichannel, profits at Debenhams rose by 20% to £150m in its last financial year.

According to the retailer's trading update, the multichannel business grew strongly in the year with Debenhams Direct sales for the 52 weeks up 88.4% on the previous year.

Halfords

Thanks to reserve and collect, mobile and more, Halfords has continued to benefit from strong multichannel sales.

In its most recent financial statement (PDF), the retailer said that Reserve and Collect accounted for 80% of online sales, and more than 1.5 million products have been sold in this way. Overall, multichannel sales grew by 34%, accounting for 6% of total sales.

John Lewis

John Lewis' multichannel retail strategy includes the use of catalogues, in-store ordering, collect in store, as well as opening a number of smaller At Home stores. There is also a mobile site on the way.

Its last financial statement reported a 12.3% rise in like for like sales, with a 36.1% rise in sales at johnlewis.com.

Next

Thanks to growth in online sales, multichannel retailer Next has seen a 7.8% rise in Directory sales in the first half of its financial year, compared to the same period in 2009. Total Next sales rose by 3.1%, so sales through the Directory, which covers online, mail order and telephone sales, has compensated for slower growth in offline sales.

It also demonstrates the value of retailers selling through as many channels as possible. Next, which clearly see the value of a multichannel strategy, also launched a transactional iPhone app in February this year.

Marks & Spencer

M&S has focused on multichannel this year, and has increased Direct (web, catalogue and telephone) sales by 27% to £413.3m and is targeting £500m by 2010/11.

The retailer has been rolling out its 'Shop your Way' collect in store service out to some of its Simply Food outlets.

Argos

As previously reported on this blog, Argos has driven an impressive £1.9bn in multichannel sales in its most recent financial year, 43% of total sales.

This is down to a combination of catalogues, in store ordering, and reserve and collect, while the retailer recently launched an iPhone app.

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